Bacterial Trait-Finding and Gene Mapping Platform Speeds Microbial Engineering for Biotech Applications

Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a platform to identify genetic triggers that allow microbes to become efficient factories for new chemicals and materials. This platform, which combines synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, and statistical mapping techniques, can rapidly and precisely reprogram bacteria for biotech applications.

Unlike traditional methods that study the effect of whole gene gains or losses, this new approach focuses on the impact of small nucleotide sequence variations on bacterial function. The team's work, reported in Nature Communications, builds on previous ORNL research that adapted protoplast fusion—a technique used to create diverse microbial offspring—to enable quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping in bacteria.

Unlike past studies that required sexual recombination, protoplast fusion allowed the creation of a large population of genetically varied bacteria (recombinants), overcoming the challenge of limited genetic variation in bacteria. By linking DNA sequences to observable physical traits, researchers identified DNA variants that explain differences in bacterial traits, demonstrating the method's utility across various bacterial groups, including Clostridium thermocellum, Novosphingobium aromaticivorans, and Stutzerimonas stutzeri.

Automated phenotyping and AI processing further accelerated the process, achieving 10 times faster results than traditional methods.